Life's An Adventure - Bhutan, Laos and Thailand

Even for us, the intrepid travelers, the fall of 2000 saw us going a bit more far afield than usual.  While Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai may be on many-a-traveler's southeast Asia itinerary, we went a bit further a field as well.  NE Thailand, centered around Udon Thani and Nam Kai, brought us face to face with local Thailand, not the sanitized world of the typical tourist spots.  Crossing the border to Laos, we got more off the beaten track in our visits to the laid-back capital of Vientiane, the more laid-back temple town of Luang Prabang, and onward to the still-more-laid-back journey up the Mekong River. And then there was Chuck's pre-Thai/Laos journey to the Himalayan mountain kingdom of Bhutan, an extraordinary destination in anyone's book.

Our SE Asia trip is presented in three parts - photo highlights of Bhutan, photo highlights of Laos and Thailand, and trip "factoids" - the specifics of the trip (hotels, day-by-day activities, etc.)  So, click along as we go to the land of the Buddha, rice and beer - southeast Asia.  (And be sure to double click on any photo for an enlarged version.)